


The Red Ballroom

by Janethecat



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dancing, M/M, ball room, keith kogane - Freeform, lance mcclain - Freeform, royal, royal au, talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 06:52:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19079761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Janethecat/pseuds/Janethecat
Summary: Tonight, there would be a grand ball to be held in the princes honor. Lance was having none of it, but instead of just staying in his room all night like he wished, his friend drags him out and forces him to socialize.Good thing a stranger saves him from sulking all night with a simple dance.





	The Red Ballroom

Tugging upon the fabric of his sleeves, Lance once more glanced around the room. Whether it was too keep himself occupied or looking for escape routes, he hadn't decided yet. A fist pounding against his door startled him enough the brunet jumped and began glaring at the slab of wood.

Lance sighed and begrudgingly and walked over to open it and reveal his best friend, Shiro standing there looking dashing as always with a full head of black hair and grey eyes but whereas he was usually seen in a military uniform, he was now wearing a white suit with a red flower tucked in the breast pocket.

“How come you get to wear white? I wanna wear white too! I can change right now.” Sighing, Shiro grabbed Lance’s arm and deflected his obvious stalling technique while dragging the brunet down the hall.

“You and I both know that the only reason I’m able to wear white is my small tied to the royal lineage.”

“Small ties, Royal lineage, blah blah blah. Can I please not go?” While most of it was said jokingly, both of them knew that Lance was being serious when he said he didn’t want to go.

“You know I’d usually say that, no, you don’t have to, but tonight everyone on the counsel needs you to be there so they can look good.”

“You mean so they can use me as another puppet.” The brunet muttered while finally giving in and picking up his feet to walk himself.

“Sound just about right with those old tyrants. But, remember what I always say, a man unwilling to be controlled-“

“Is a man able to lead. I know. I know. It’s just..it’s just one of those nights.” Shiro said nothing, instead choosing to squeeze Lance’s shoulders a bit as he lead the brunet into the ball room. He wasn’t paying any attention to the people around him until finally Shiro had the idea to hand him a glass of bubbly liquor that he downed quickly before taking the second one and listening to Shiro’s recounts of his past selves stupid plans that he had been so sure would work but always failed epically.

“Your telling me? That the most looked up to man on the force, the freaking commander of said army, you, freaking swan dived out of a window so you wouldn’t be caught making out with your boyfriend?! I can’t believe you never told me about this Shiro.” The man In questioned looked guilty yet proud as he nodded to Lance who stood far more relaxed and mouth agape. “You’re my new hero.”

Shiro laughed joyously at Lance’s antics as the brunet took another swig from his glass of champagne while gazing out on the crowd of people. Woman were dancing happily with their friends in the center while a ring of people chatted with one another around them.

“Only you could say it like that with a straight face.”

“You flatter me.” The grin he had plastered on his face was inching its way off his face by the second even though Shiro was trying his hardest to keep him occupied. Picking at a loose string on his coat, the brunet glanced around the room once more to find nothing had changed in the point three seconds he had last looked.

“Lance, you’ve got to stop that, you’re going to rip your sleeve right off.” Glaring at Shiro for a split second, the brunet sighed heavily and rubbed at his face.

“I know. I know! I’m just-I’m just-I’m going to get something else to drink.” With out another word, Lance spun on the heels of his boots and stalked off into the crowd. He was barley ten feet away when his old girlfriend Nyma spotted him and hooked her arms around his own.

“Lance? Is that you? Oh, it is! I didn’t recognize you without the blue vest. Reds a good look on you.” Forcing another one of his plastic smiles onto his face, the brunet in question tried to nod and keep walking but she held strong and began dragging him into her circle of people. “Lance, these are my friends. You know, the ones that thought I was too good for you? This is Angela, Erica, Rolo, and Erin. Guys, this is Lance.”

Eye twitching, his smile was quickly turning into a grimace as he once more tried to nod his way out of it. Of course, that just meant that the blonde gripped his arms tighter.

“Hey, So your the dude who broke up with our Nyma here then? Don’t look to high and mighty now do you.”

“Are we going to have a problem? Because I have somewhere I much rather be if you’ll excuse me.” Rolo glared at him but it was the other guy that spoke this time.

“Oh ho ho! So he thinks himself smart now does he-“

“Yes I do, now if you’ll excuse, there’s far cuter girls over there that don’t want to strangle me. Excuse me.” Bowing his head in the slightest bit, he finally succeeded in ripping his arm from the blond girls grasp and spun around before stomping away. Two months ago, he would have folded over and shrunk into himself at such a group of people, but he had matured in ways they would never understand. He now had people who cared about him, despite the whole not feeling worth it thing, and he knew that those kinds of people weren’t worth it.

So instead, he finished his march towards a server and stole another glass of champagne off his tray before chugging it down in one gulp. “You know, it’s probably not a good idea to drink it so fast.”

Choking, Lance began to cough on nothing and turned around to come face to face with Shiro once more. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Cause your accomplishing it pretty well right now!” The black haired man just laughed and smacked the brunet on his back, sending Lance three steps forwards. “What are you doing over here anyway.” He managed to cough out.

“Well, after your little tantrum show I watched that girl you used to date drag you off and decided to make sure you were okay but you had already stomped away from them-quite spectacularly I might add-and just decided to get a drink then you walked up next to me and chugged down an entire glass of liquor right in front of me.” Not saying anything, Lance settles on glaring at Shiro before happening to glance behind him and going stalk still.

A man was standing across the room with a white tail coat and gingerly harboring a glass of the bubbly stuff all on his own. His black hair stood out spectacularly against the scarlet banner hung behind him. Next to him, a short girl in a purple dress that Lance knew much too well talked animatedly while waving her hands.

Katie Holt, also known as Pidge, was the youngest member of the counsel, Lance being the second, and a walking genius. She was a terrifying force of nature that if you got on her bad side, the world was about to end for you. Thankfully, he was in her good side and along with his best friend Hunk, the three of them were known as the three terrorizers of the castle. Still staring at the two of them, Lance wondered who the raven haired man was while thinking that he’d maybe like to find out.

“Lance? You okay.” Jumping, Lance screamed and clutched at his chest. Those around him spared him barley a second glance before they had returned to their chatter.

“Good Galra Shiro, I said to stop trying to kill me!”

“Sorry? I didn’t mean to interrupt your daydreaming but I did ask you a question.” Peeking up at his best friend from where he stood doubled over panting Lance tried to glare and, judging by the way Shiro was laughing hysterically at him, was failing miserably.

“Not cool dude. What was the question.”

“I asked whether or not you knew of the news?”

“What news?”

“You know.” He was wagging his eye brows and glancing at some place behind him but Lance could only tilt his head and raise an eye brow as he didn’t understand.

“No? I don’t? Seriously, what?”

“You know, that the crown prince of Dibozal is going to choose his partner tonight.” Piercing his lips Lance shook his head.

“No? I’m only hearing about this now in fact. Who is the crown prince?” Shiro opened his mouth to answer but paused while looking over Lance’s shoulder. His entire face froze as it was and was rapidly draining of color. Confused, the brunet stepped forwards and waved his hands in front of the army officials face.

“Shiro? Buddy? Pal? You okay? Hello?”

“He’s fine, don’t worry.” Not bothering to turn around at the newcomers words, Lance simply blew a raspberry and continued to wave his hands around in front of Shiro.

“You sure? He seems a little...dead.” Before he could even comprehend it happening, his best friend paled even futher and dropped onto one knee. “Wow, Shiro! Bud! What wrong? Did the champagne finally get to you?”

Dropping onto one knee himself, Lance placed on hand on his friends shoulder while continuing to wave the other around. Shiro continues to stare at the floor but shook his head at Lance while shushing him. “Why are you shushing me? You really did have too much to drink didn’t you?”

Sighing, Lance tried to get Shiro to stand but his friend just yanked the brunet back to the floor. “I apologize for my friend, your m-“

“No no, it’s find, please stop. Before you attract attention.” Still not recognizing the voice, Lance moved as if to turn around but was pulled to his feet by the mystery man before he could. Turning around, an apology was making its way out of his throat but died when he caught sight of who it was. The same man who the brunette had been staring at with the white tail coat and black hair was standing awkwardly behind him while staring at the floor.

“Oh, it’s you.” Whoops. Instead of an apology and a thank you, he just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. Cheeks glowing red, Lance tried once more. “No wait, what I meant was, your the guy from across the room, right?”

Not holding it back any longer, he connected his palm with the flesh of his forehead and let the sigh rip through his lungs. “Sorry, Sorry, that’s also not what I meant. I meant both thank you and sorry. At this point for... most everything that I’ve done up to this moment.”

The raven haired boy just chuckled silently at his awful try’s and stared at Lance. “It’s fine, I just wasn’t expecting you to not know my name.”

“Crap, have we met? Did you already introduce yourself to me and I forgot?! Not again.” He didn’t think he could ever forget a face like this guys, but there was also a high probability that he did.

“No, no. I don’t think I’ve had the...pleasure.”

“Please excuse my friend, he means no offense.” Lance sent a quick confused look Shiro’s way before looking back at the other man who was looking at Pidge himself. They seemed to be having a silent conversation but one glare from Pidge had the mystery man sighing heavily and returning his gaze to the men in front of him.

“Anyways, I came over here to ask if, uh, well I was wondering, um, would you like to, Ah-“

“Are you okay? Did you have too much to drink? Happens to the best of-“

“Wouldyouliketodancewithme?” Blinking blearily, Lance blankly looked upon the ravenette.

“I’m sorry? Didn’t quite catch that?” The others mans cheeks flowed bright pink in the orange light while he stared pointedly at his feet. Lance furrowed his brows and was about to ask again when he finally spoke up again.

“I asked if you wanted to dance with me?”

“Oh. Well, why didn’t you just say so? I’d love too! Beats just standing here moping all night.” Without waiting for the other response, Lance reached out and grabbed the guys hand before pulling him towards the center of the room. All he heard was a startled squawk behind him before the other man laughed and caught up with Lance’s pace and soon they were standing at the edges of the dance floor and Lance turned around to initiate the dance.

Taking the lead, Lance began to walk them through a series of slow movements after it had become apparent that the other had no idea what he was doing. Waltzing slowly around the room, the brunet lost track of time itself as the world around him seemed to fade away in the face of the mystery man that was trying his hardest to focus on where his feet needed to go that Lance found himself laughing at the others scrounged up face.

“You know, I won’t mind if you just stand on my feet, not like it’ll be much different from what’s happening now.” He received a glare in return for his cheekyness but was proven correct when his feet once more met the bottom of the other mans shoe. Mystery man released a frustrated sigh before giving in and climbing atop Lance’s feet while wrapping his arms tighter around the brunets neck. “See? How hard was that?”

“Harder than you could ever imagine.”

“Wow. And I thought I was dramatic.” Finally, it seemed he had made the other laugh and Lance couldn’t stop the way he froze at the sound. It was so real that the brunet felt a smile all of his own work it’s way into his face. “Alright, hold on tight, I’m about to go another round of waltzing.”

Lance spared the guy barley a second before he was moving once more, bringing the surprises ravenette along with him. “Oh my Galra, are you trying to kill me?!”

“Nah, that would be a waste of beauty if I did.” The ravenette glared menacingly at him which in turn made Lance laugh aloud. “Dude, You should see your face right now.”

“Oh, haha. I bet you love saying this to every person who asks you to dance.”

“Nah, just the ones I like.” Giving the ravenette one final smile, Lance dipped him to the floor as another song ended and the world fell back into place. “So, the names Lance by the way.”

“I know.” Blinking, Lance tilted his head down a pout playing on his lips.

“No fair, you already know my name and I don’t get to know yours?”

“I can do as I wish.” Huffing, the brunet shrugged all while never breaking eye contact.

“Yeah but sometimes isn’t it better to at least try to be nice to someone?” The ravenette simply raises a brow before a throat was cleared in front of him, prompting them both to look up.

There stood the queen of Dibozal and a highly respected member of their society, Krolia.

Lance had of course heard of her skill and wit but wasn’t prepared to actually meet he. The rumors didn't justify her pure intimidation. Gulping, Lance only now realized that he still held the ravenette in a dip and straightened them both up before sheepishly bowing to her. “You-Your majesty. Please excuse my rudeness.”

“Please, rise.” No thanks, he though, of course he did so anyway but not before glancing around the crowd and seeing Shiro staring at him with a smile while Hunk and Pidge were-were those two exchanging money?! What the heck was going on?!

“So, your the one he chose?”

“Pardon?” Mystery man was by her side in a seconds notice and begun a frantic whisper conversation with her. Lance stood there dumbly staring at the two of them. He wasn’t aware anyone could do that.

Just who was the man he’d been dancing with all night?

It seemed the world wanted to answer him as a second later the ravenette was pulling away from the queen, who looked oddly smug, then walking back towards Lance. “Hey, did I do something wrong? I mean, I’m just a junior counsel member but I didn’t think being here was a problem and-“

“Lance, shut up for a moment.” Snapping his mouth shut, the brunet glanced behind the ravenette and back at Shiro who was nodding happily at Lance. Looking back at Keith, Lance silently raised an eyebrow while waiting for the other to talk. He was doing the same thing he had when originally trying to ask Lance to dance, so the brunet figured he could just wait it out and raised himself up and down on the balls of his feet while looking anywhere but at him.

“So, I haven’t exactly been forthcoming with you, and apparently that’s no way to start all of this, but I would just like to say that my names Keith and I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me? You can, of course, say no, but I would prefer if you said-“

“Yeah, sounds fun. I could go for a date with a cute guy right now. Well, not right now, right now, but still. Sure.”

“Huh?” Keith-well, didn’t he like the way his mind made that sound- finally stopped staring at the floor to look into Lance’s eyes and only then did the brunet realize they were not just a grey color as he had originally though but also held streaks of purple going through them.

“I said okay? Was I not supposed to?”

“No no, just, was not expecting it to be so easy...” before they could discuss it further, Krolia stepped forwards and whispered something into Keith’s-Wow-ear that made his easy going smile disappear in an instant to be replaced by a serious frown. “I’ll have to talk to you later, but are you free tomorrow?”

“Depends, does six in the evening work?” Keith sparred him a small nod before spinning around and following the queen and two guards Lance hadn’t seen before now out of the room. “I...have no idea what the hell just happened but I got a date with a cute guy out of it. Eh, works with me. Now, where’s-“

In an instant, all three of his friends had descended upon his and were ingesting a group hug. Shiro’s prosthetic arm was digging into Lance’s side and Pidge’s elbow was jamming itself further into his spine by the second but the brunet was too confused too notice, even while they all congratulated him for goodness knows what.

“I can’t believe you did it, Lance!” Shiro clasped a hand on his shoulder and shook him slightly

“Holy crap, dude, that was.. holy crap.” Hunk looked ready to pass out.

“Nice, totally worth listening to Keith’s whining for a week.” Pidge just seemed annoyed but happy all the same.

“Uh, guys? What are you talking about?” Sudden as it had begun, his three friends stepped back and began to drag him out of the ball room.

“What do you mean? You just got a date with the prince!”

“No? I got a date with Keith?” They had stopped right outside the door which left him at the full mercy of his friends.

“Lance. Bud. Please tell me your joking.” Shiro looked so exasperated that it made Lance instantly guilty for..whatever it was he did.

“No? Seriously, what are you guys talking about.”

“Lance, how are you one of the smartest people in this castle, second only to me, yet you didn’t realize that you have been dancing with the prince of Dibozal all night?” His eyes narrowed as he stared at them until what they said finally settled in and his eyes widened.

“I-how-what?” Hunk nodded sympathetically while patting Lance back. Or at least, he would have patted at Lance’s back had the brunet not have already taken off in the direction he remembered Keith to be heading. Ignoring his friend shouts of warning behind him, Lance pressed on until the sight of the royal guards and Keith came back into view. His mom was already gone and the ravenette seemed to be sending his guards off to do something, leaving the ravenette alone.

“You!” Lance yelled, gaining the attention of the lone prince who turned around at the sudden shout only to find a panting Lance behind him. It was embarrassing the fact that he was doubled over and breathing heavily but soon as he was able to he straightened and looked directly at Keith. “How the hell did I not realize you’re the prince?! You’ve got like ten royal crests on you for quiznaking sake!” Keith seemed so confused at Lance’s sudden appearance that he could only stare.

“I’ve gotten off topic. What I’m trying to get to is, you’re the freaking prince, and I have a date with you tomorrow and I-I need to know if I can still call you Keith.”

“...You telling me, that in the two hours we’ve been talking and dancing, you had absolutely no idea who I was and now that you know, you only want to know if you can call me by my name? And I thought I was oblivious.” Keith only muttered the last part but the brunet was able to hear it easily. Didn’t detour him in the slightest though. Smiling like and idiot, Lance nodded excitedly.

“Yup. Were you expecting something else?” Keith may not have noticed it yet, but Lance couldn’t help but stare at the smile that was making its way into the guys cute face.

“No, I-that’s actually better than I could ever ask for. Yeah. Yeah, you can just call me Keith. I-I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“That’s another thing, we never set a place. I have literally no idea where we’re going to meet.” The ravenette seemed taken aback before he burst out laughing and, like a fool, Lance joined in.

“How about we just meet at the castle gates. That okay with you?”

“Sounds perfect. See you later, Keith!” Turning back the way he came, Lance could swear he heard the ravenette whisper “later, Lance...” as he walked away but dismissed it as his own imagination.

Lance found himself smiling at the floor as he strutted back to his room, hands stuffed in his pockets.

Turns out, going to this ball was one of the best things he’d ever been forced into doing.

**Author's Note:**

> *Jazz hands*  
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
